Global Potential Board of Directors

Adam Michaels, President

Adam is currently a Principal at Booz & Company, a global management consulting firm based in New York. He specializes in business model innovation and new product introductions in the Consumer, Media and Digital practice, working with clients from around the globe. Before business school, Adam worked for Capital One Financial Corporation. It was at Capital One where he was exposed to international business development. Adam worked extensively in the United Kingdom and France, and helped launch businesses for Capital One in Italy and Spain. Adam has a degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a masters in business administration from Columbia Business School. Adam lives in New Jersey with his wife and two young sons.
Contact: adam@global-potential.org

Arash Yomtobian, Treasurer

Mr. Arash Yomtobian was born in Tehran, Iran, to Jewish parents, the youngest of four children. In 1987, after years of tumult that began with the revolution and continued with the Iran-Iraq war, the family finally fled their homeland, first settling in Vienna, Austria and eventually settling on Long Island, New York. Yet despite his largely American upbringing, Mr. Yomtobian has a deep interest in the history of both his nation and his family, and this interest is on vivid display in his apartment.

Mr. Yomtobian currently works in Global Trading at Barclays Capital, where he is responsible for working with senior management to build out the firm’s Equities division globally. Prior to his current role, Mr. Yomtobian worked in the Global Mergers & Acquisitions division, first at Lehman Brothers and subsequently, Barclays Capital, where he advised financial sponsor and corporate clients, primarily executing sell-side mandates across all industries. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Arash began his career in Citigroup’s Corporate & Investment Bank where he covered a portfolio of global Industrial and Healthcare companies.

Mr. Yomtobian earned a BA in Comparative Literature in Persian, Hebrew, and Arabic from Columbia University and a BA in Middle East Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Contact: arash@global-potential.org

Dr. Sandra Gomez, Secretary

Dr. Sandra Gomez, originally from the Dominican Republic, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and a senior candidate at the New York University’s Psychoanalytic Institute. She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General and in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Gomez graduated Cum Laude from Pedro H. Urena National University School of Medicine in the Dominican Republic. She completed her fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia University’s St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center where she became chief resident during her senior year. She has Co-found Latino Mental Health Services in under-served communities in New York and Massachusetts.

Dr. Gomez has a strong interest in studying psychogenic illnesses in youngsters, an interest that originated from her contact with hundreds of children, adolescents and young adults during her tenure as the Director of the Emergency Services for the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. Since then Dr. Gomez has participated in prominent research projects in this field such as the treatment of Adolescents Suicide Attempters (TASA) study.

Dr. Gomez has co-authored several peer-reviewed articles, contributing to her field in areas as diverse as Anxiety Disorders and ADHD in adolescents, among others.

Contact: sandra@global-potential.org

Frank Cohn, Executive Director & Founder

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Frank has worked with youth and community groups in over 50 rural villages and 12 cities in 14 countries in Latin America and Asia, and has managed or led international trips for over 500 youth. His previous work includes Field Director for an NGO in Central America, and with the United Nations in Social Policy and Development. Frank was selected in 2011 as the New Yorker of the Week by NY1 Television, and in 2010 won the Emerging Social Worker Award from the National Association of Social Workers – NYC Chapter, and was designated a “Robin Hood Lionheart”. In 2008 he was selected as a We Are All Brooklyn Fellow and is currently on their steering committee, and in 2005 he was the Founding President of the Columbia University Partnership for International Development (CUPID). Frank brings 12 years of managerial and supervisory experience with designing, running, and evaluating community service and development programs. He has lectured at Columbia and New School Universities, and conducts trainings on Non-Profit Start-up and Management, Social Entrepreneurship, Evaluation, Communication, Stress Management, and Team Building. Frank holds his Masters of Science in Social Work from Columbia University, specializing in International Social Development and Social Enterprise Administration, and speaks fluent French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and is functional in Hindi, Haitian Creole, and Italian.
Contact: frank@global-potential.org

Sarah Gogel, Managing Director & Founder

Ms. Sarah Gogel, LMSW, an Ariane de Rothschild Fellow (2011), is Managing Director, Co-Founder of Global Potential and Founder of Global Potential Boston. Sarah is a Law School student at Northeastern University School of Law, specialized in international development through a dual degree Masters at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University (2013). She will carry out an exchange program with Sciences Po law school in Paris from January to May, 2012, as part of the Northeastern Law School program.

Sarah holds her A.B. in Sociology from Harvard College and a Masters in Social Work from Wurzweiler School of Social Work. She has in-depth experience working with diverse at-risk populations, specifically with trauma survivors, youth, the elderly and migrants. Sarah has worked for ten years in the fields of development, advocacy and human rights in international and national organizations-from corporations like l’Oréal Recherche in France to non-profits like Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, the International Institute of New Jersey and the Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH) in Paris. Sarah was most recently a legal intern in the Caribbean Unit of the Regional office of Washington D.C. of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Originally from Paris, France, Sarah is a native French speaker, is fluent in English and Spanish, and speaks Hindi and Urdu. She has worked with multiethnic and multicultural populations in India, Israel, Nicaragua, France and the United States. In 2007, Sarah won the Diversity and Ageing award from AARP for her thesis on social isolation among the elderly in France. Sarah was Disaster Mental Health Worker for the American Red Cross of Greater New York for three years and previously represented an NGO at the United Nations in NY headquarters. She was recognized as Boston Hero of the Year in 2010 (Boston Metro) and was a PresenTense Fellow for Social Innovators in 2011. Sarah is also YouthActionNet Global International Youth Fellow (2009).

Eugenio Cano

Eugenio is the Founder and Principal of the Global Bearings, LLC. The Global Bearings is a boutique management consulting firm that brings a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach to business strategy.

He offers clients over 10 years of experience in economic development, business relocation, investment promotion, and market expansion through his business insights, knowledge of the regions, and well-established business and government network throughout Asia, the United States, and Latin America. As a diplomat turned entrepreneur, and with a command of Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, as well as English, Eugenio transcends cultural and language barriers at the highest levels in industries and government. Prior to private practice, Eugenio served as the minister counselor at the Permanent Mission of Nicaragua to the United Nations (2002 to 2007), where he represented Nicaragua on the Economic and Social Council and the UN General Assembly Economic and Financial Committee. In that position, from 2004-06, he was also the principal contact for Nicaragua’s elected memberships to the Board of Directors of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). He was posted at the Embassy of Nicaragua in Taiwan (1998 to 2002) where he spearheaded investment promotion of Taiwanese investments that created +30,000 jobs in Nicaragua. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University, a Master of Public Policy in International Affairs and Trade from the University of Michigan, and is an EMBA candidate (expected 2013) from the University of Miami School of Business.

Eugenio is author of Nicaragua: Land of Opportunities, published in 1999 and its second edition published in 2002. He has also advised major international investors seeking to invest in Nicaragua in manufacturing and infrastructure projects. Eugenio earned a Master of Public Policy in 1997 from the Gerald H. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.

Eugenio holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Columbia College, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Contact: eugenio@global-potential.org

David M. Mars

Mr. Mars is a Partner of White Owl Capital Partners LLC, a New York based early stage investment firm. Mr. Mars manages a portfolio of start-up tech and energy companies. Prior to joining White Owl in 2007, he was the Director of Strategy & Business Development at IDT Telecom. In this role, he was responsible for all product management, market expansion and strategic partnerships and helped grow the division to over $200 million in revenue. Before working at IDT, he was one of the founders of Steamtunnels, Inc., a venture backed national collegiate magazine and integrated marketing company.

In addition, he worked as an Analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Mars currently serves as a director of Intelligize Inc., Profitably Inc., Pixily Inc., Windstream Energy LLC, and West Wind Energy LLC and is a board observer for Shera International Ltd. Mr. Mars also serves as the New York chapter leader for the Wharton Private Equity Partners. Mr. Mars is a graduate of Boston University, magna cum laude, and received an M.B.A. with concentration in Venture Capital from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Contact: david@global-potential.org

Siddhartha Jha

Siddhartha Jha, a Statistics and Mathematics Harvard College graduate (A.B., MA, 2005), is a leading fixed-income market strategist, and in 2011 wrote a book published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. on the Interest Rate Markets. This book focuses on market intuition and understanding interest rates and the fixed income products used to trade them.

Sid grew up in India until he was 11 years old, at which point his family and he moved to Boston, MA. His parents made large sacrifices to move to the US in order to provide better opportunities for their kids. Sid’s parents grew up in Bihar, where Sid was born as well – the region is located in in the agricultural heartland of the country.

Sid is a senior analyst at Arrowhawk capital partners focusing on the global commodities complex. Sid used to work at J.P Morgan’s Fixed Income Strategy Team and covered a wide range of rates markets (municipals to liquid products, including Treasuries, swaps, futures, and options). Sid spent over five years at JPM developing trade ideas and discussing institutional investors.

Both Sid’s job and interests have led him closely to follow world events with great depth. Sid tries to understand in detail the effects of both structural problems in the developing world as well as temporary issues affecting commodity markets and the global economy. Sid says about this matter the following remarks: “There is much made in the media of the effect of ‘speculators’ on the prices of various goods from food to energy, but in reality speculators (such as myself) have very limited impact on prices. We are basically involved in all these markets to assess the supply and demand dynamics which themselves arise from a range of forces that affect society today, such as mass urbanization, underinvestment in agriculture and education, suboptimal government policies and a greater focus on finding scapegoats rather than investing in long-term solutions.” Sid hopes his education in his professional field contributes to his work with Global Potential and enables him to effectively give back to the community.

Contact: sid@global-potential.org

John Moloney

John Moloney is currently a Senior Vice President at Moodyʼs Investors Service, a
leading provider of credit ratings, research and risk analysis. John and his teams are
responsible for the development of analytic tools and surveillance platforms used by the Moodyʼs domestic and international community to assess risk within the capital markets.

John started his career as a credit analyst within the Correspondent Banking and M&A
group within Norwest Bank and has also held various positions within Prudential and
Citibank. John has a Finance degree from Iowa State University and a masters in
business administration from the University of Minnesota where he published “Youth
Bulges, Busts and Doing Business in Violence Prone Nations” and contributed to the
book Strategic Foresight. John lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.

Contact: john@global-potential.org

Harinder Janjua

Harinder Janjua is an international health and development professional, specializing in HIV/AIDS policy, research and programs. With over ten years of experience, she has worked all over the world for a variety of different organizations, including grassroots-level organizations, international non-governmental organizations, foundations, and multi-lateral organizations. Since moving to New York a few years ago, Harinder has been a full-time consultant to the United Nations. She is currently consulting for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the management of its portfolio of AIDS, TB, and Malaria grants.

Harinder completed her BSc degree at the University of British Columbia in her native Canada, an MPH degree from the University of Sydney (Australia) and most recently, an MBA degree from INSEAD (France and Singapore). She speaks Punjabi and English fluently, Spanish and Hindi at an advanced level, and French at an intermediate level.

Contact: harinder@global-potential.org

Nanske L. Wood

Nanske has over twenty five years of experience in the healthcare industry. Her broad healthcare background encompasses big and small Pharma (Abbott Laboratories, Wyeth, Merck, Esprit Pharma), a dot.com start up (Rxcentric), and various leadership roles in medical communications. She played the leading role in the creation and development of Carbon Healthcare, a major healthcare communications company, and has received an HBA (Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association) “Rising Star” award. Currently, Nanske heads up a small start-up named Vanjan Inc. It is focused on improving health outcomes for patients in underserved markets, in particular HIV. Nanske received her B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Illinois, and her MBA degree from DePaul University.